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I love How to Cook Everything. I regard it as a quintessential guide to contemporary cookery, and give it to all my friends who love to eat but don't know how to cook when they decide it's time to learn.

How did you figure out what you wanted to put into the book? There's some random really cool stuff in there, like info on making your own vinegar, that I didn't expect to see. What didn't make the cut, and why?

We evaluated every recipe after the book was done, and removed recipes that I considered to be too esoteric – foie gras, game, truffles, and the like. When I began, I did not know how basic the book would be. When I finished, those recipes seemed out of place. As for making your own vinegar – I couldn't part with it, because it was a pet project of mine. Probably it has no place in HTCE, but what the hell…